CNN’s report that special counsel Robert Mueller could wind up his investigation and deliver his much-anticipated report as early as next week has the anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ seemingly struggling to sustain a consistent narrative.

First, we have to protect ourselves against further damage in 2020. Then, we must recognize that only by having all the facts and all the wrong-doers publicly tried and brought to justice can we ensure we do not suffer similar attacks and betrayals in the future.

It's obvious to me what this sh*t show has been about and just because Mueller will ride off into the sunset doesn't mean that Russia Gate is going to end. Nope. Far from it. We will continue to see websites censored and company like NewsGuard, PropOrNot, the Integrity Initiative and others still push their agendas. Oh yeah. And we're out $30-40 million to Mueller's investigation.

Comments

Democrats are seizing on a bombshell New York Times report as further evidence that President Trump may have sought to obstruct justice in investigations of his campaign and administration.

The Times reported Tuesday that the president asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker late last year to put U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in charge of the investigation into Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud, tax fraud and making payments to silence women alleging that they had affairs with Trump.

Berman, an ally of Trump who donated to his 2016 campaign, had recused himself from the case, and Whitaker did not act on Trump's request, according to the report — which Trump has denied.
....
Other Democrats described a pattern of actions they deemed inappropriate.

“I think if you just follow the number of incidences and evidence that has been presented involving the president and the Russia investigation and the investigation in the Southern District in New York and others, I think it clearly shows a pattern that the president has tried to use his influence and/or relationship to really interfere with the investigation,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.).

It shouldn't matter what people think about Trump's actions if they can't prove it or if Mueller can't. I'd love to see Trump tossed out of the WH as much as anyone, but not because something that has been made up like this Russian farce. There is plenty of things that he has done that goes against our laws so go after him for them.

“Under oath to the House Judiciary Committee, then-acting Attorney General Whitaker stated that ‘at no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel’s investigation or any other investigation,’ ” spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. “Mr. Whitaker stands by his testimony.”

Maybe since Brennan and others have lied to congress and have gotten away with it, taking an oath to tell the truth doesn't mean as much anymore.

“Under oath to the House Judiciary Committee, then-acting Attorney General Whitaker stated that ‘at no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel’s investigation or any other investigation,’ ” spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. “Mr. Whitaker stands by his testimony.”

Besides, how many times has he been accused of putting his thumb on the investigation only to have seen that he didn't?

up

21 users have voted.

—

America is a pathetic nation; a fascist state fueled by the greed, malice, and stupidity of her own people.
- strife delivery

Democrats are seizing on a bombshell New York Times report as further evidence that President Trump may have sought to obstruct justice in investigations of his campaign and administration.

The Times reported Tuesday that the president asked then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker late last year to put U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in charge of the investigation into Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud, tax fraud and making payments to silence women alleging that they had affairs with Trump.

Berman, an ally of Trump who donated to his 2016 campaign, had recused himself from the case, and Whitaker did not act on Trump's request, according to the report — which Trump has denied.
....
Other Democrats described a pattern of actions they deemed inappropriate.

“I think if you just follow the number of incidences and evidence that has been presented involving the president and the Russia investigation and the investigation in the Southern District in New York and others, I think it clearly shows a pattern that the president has tried to use his influence and/or relationship to really interfere with the investigation,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.).

It shouldn't matter what people think about Trump's actions if they can't prove it or if Mueller can't. I'd love to see Trump tossed out of the WH as much as anyone, but not because something that has been made up like this Russian farce. There is plenty of things that he has done that goes against our laws so go after him for them.

“Under oath to the House Judiciary Committee, then-acting Attorney General Whitaker stated that ‘at no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel’s investigation or any other investigation,’ ” spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. “Mr. Whitaker stands by his testimony.”

Maybe since Brennan and others have lied to congress and have gotten away with it, taking an oath to tell the truth doesn't mean as much anymore.

“Under oath to the House Judiciary Committee, then-acting Attorney General Whitaker stated that ‘at no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel’s investigation or any other investigation,’ ” spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. “Mr. Whitaker stands by his testimony.”

Besides, how many times has he been accused of putting his thumb on the investigation only to have seen that he didn't?

@wendy davis
She hid out as a Hungarian baker in the Kaiser's palace in Budapest, married an Austrian metal worker and emigrated to Chicago via Ellis Island. That's my story and it makes more sens3e than Russiagate.

#1.1.1.1
She hid out as a Hungarian baker in the Kaiser's palace in Budapest, married an Austrian metal worker and emigrated to Chicago via Ellis Island. That's my story and it makes more sens3e than Russiagate.

doesn't mean it will stop.
Where the fuck were these people when obummer basically gave war criminals a pass?
"We have to look forward" was an admission that the status quo would continue.
Now that prick hangs with war mongers like branson.
And I should vote dim? Spare me the gut wrenching laughter.

up

25 users have voted.

—

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Despite appeals from Amenesty Internation, Obamacorp continued torture at Gitmo and black holes like Bagram, including torture of Chelsea Manning, a US citizen and a member of the volunteer army and forced feeding of Muslim prisoners. (And after torturing Manning, Obama commuted her sentence. WTF? But never let up on pressuring the Brits re: Assange, who committed no crime at all. WTF?)

Obama also increased serial drone murders exponentially. Like Bushco, he even continued imprisonment of a number of prisoners who had been exonerated by our own investigations. Too dangerous to release after the horrible way we treated them, I guess. Oh, and I'm pretty sure attempting regime change in other sovereign nations violates international law, too.

BTW, when you get some free time, check out the Bill of Rights and see how many of its protections are limited to US citizens. Remember, no one was a US citizen until after ratification of the Constitution in 1789. And all of them were either immigrants to this continent or descended from immigrants of recent memory.

Except, of course, for members of First Nations, who, according to the genome project, immigrated to this continent over 50,000 years ago from RUSSIA!!11!1!. At lease, at least according to the genome project. (Fortunately, for them, they did a lot less meddling with the environment than the undocumented European immigrants who came here 50 or more millennia later.)

Any6way, in light of colonial history, it's perfectly understandable that the protections of the Bill of Rights are not limited to US citizens. Somehow, the alleged Constitutional Law Professor (actually a lecturer on civil rights), Holder and others seem to have missed that bit as much as Bushco did.

doesn't mean it will stop.
Where the fuck were these people when obummer basically gave war criminals a pass?
"We have to look forward" was an admission that the status quo would continue.
Now that prick hangs with war mongers like branson.
And I should vote dim? Spare me the gut wrenching laughter.

@HenryAWallace@HenryAWallace
were not immigrants. They were invaders. Let's call a spade a spade. The Spanish in particular were frankly looking for gold and slaves. The Pope, the "Holy Father" agreed that the Spanish could have their bodies if the Church could have their souls and aided and abetted this armed robbery and enslavement. The English were typically more subtle, couching their robbery in terms of treaties by getting local leaders who did not understand the subtleties of English law and language and in many cases the concept of land ownership at all to "sell" them their land at a pittance when the natives just thought they were allowing the English to share the land.

Despite appeals from Amenesty Internation, Obamacorp continued torture at Gitmo and black holes like Bagram, including torture of Chelsea Manning, a US citizen and a member of the volunteer army and forced feeding of Muslim prisoners. (And after torturing Manning, Obama commuted her sentence. WTF? But never let up on pressuring the Brits re: Assange, who committed no crime at all. WTF?)

Obama also increased serial drone murders exponentially. Like Bushco, he even continued imprisonment of a number of prisoners who had been exonerated by our own investigations. Too dangerous to release after the horrible way we treated them, I guess. Oh, and I'm pretty sure attempting regime change in other sovereign nations violates international law, too.

BTW, when you get some free time, check out the Bill of Rights and see how many of its protections are limited to US citizens. Remember, no one was a US citizen until after ratification of the Constitution in 1789. And all of them were either immigrants to this continent or descended from immigrants of recent memory.

Except, of course, for members of First Nations, who, according to the genome project, immigrated to this continent over 50,000 years ago from RUSSIA!!11!1!. At lease, at least according to the genome project. (Fortunately, for them, they did a lot less meddling with the environment than the undocumented European immigrants who came here 50 or more millennia later.)

Any6way, in light of colonial history, it's perfectly understandable that the protections of the Bill of Rights are not limited to US citizens. Somehow, the alleged Constitutional Law Professor (actually a lecturer on civil rights), Holder and others seem to have missed that bit as much as Bushco did.

members of First Nations, who, according to the genome project, immigrated to this continent over 50,000 years ago from RUSSIA!!11!1!

Think about it. We're talking about a nation which can drop $5000 in facebook and overthrow the US government. We're talking about a nation which plans their invasion 50 freakin thousand years in advance. We should just give up now and learn to speak Russian.

Despite appeals from Amenesty Internation, Obamacorp continued torture at Gitmo and black holes like Bagram, including torture of Chelsea Manning, a US citizen and a member of the volunteer army and forced feeding of Muslim prisoners. (And after torturing Manning, Obama commuted her sentence. WTF? But never let up on pressuring the Brits re: Assange, who committed no crime at all. WTF?)

Obama also increased serial drone murders exponentially. Like Bushco, he even continued imprisonment of a number of prisoners who had been exonerated by our own investigations. Too dangerous to release after the horrible way we treated them, I guess. Oh, and I'm pretty sure attempting regime change in other sovereign nations violates international law, too.

BTW, when you get some free time, check out the Bill of Rights and see how many of its protections are limited to US citizens. Remember, no one was a US citizen until after ratification of the Constitution in 1789. And all of them were either immigrants to this continent or descended from immigrants of recent memory.

Except, of course, for members of First Nations, who, according to the genome project, immigrated to this continent over 50,000 years ago from RUSSIA!!11!1!. At lease, at least according to the genome project. (Fortunately, for them, they did a lot less meddling with the environment than the undocumented European immigrants who came here 50 or more millennia later.)

Any6way, in light of colonial history, it's perfectly understandable that the protections of the Bill of Rights are not limited to US citizens. Somehow, the alleged Constitutional Law Professor (actually a lecturer on civil rights), Holder and others seem to have missed that bit as much as Bushco did.

up

2 users have voted.

—

A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

George H. W. Bush and the rest of the Bush-Clinton crime families, among many others. I'd also count the mainstream news media among the betrayers.

You don't need to go far back in history to find incidents worthy of the description "betrayal of the country". (Although there are many, going back to the beginning.)

9/11?

The deal made by the Reagan Repubs to leave the American hostages in Iran until the day Reagan was sworn in?

Turning control of the US over to a bunch of sociopathic oligarchs, letting them vampirize the nation's life force and waste our lives and resources on the MIC's imperialist misadventures?

Leaving the country to rot from the inside, while propagandizing us non-stop, destroying our civil liberties, militarizing the police, and turning the US into a surveillance state?

The fact that almost 100% of our political "leaders" today participate in acts of bribery, as a standard way of operating?

If these things don't count as major betrayals of the nation, what on earth would?

Maybe most Americans don't even recognize a betrayal when they see one anymore. Maybe they've gotten so used to this state of affairs that they think it's normal. Either that, or they're so overwhelmed that they can't even see it. If they do see it, they're afraid to talk about it for fear of being labelled "conspiracy theorist", "unpatriotic", or "traitor".

yet no interview with Julian Assange happens during this great 'investigation? Lawyers for Julian Assange offered an interview for Mueller (at the embassy) and considering that most of the 'collusion investigation' allegations involve Julian Assange and Wikileaks you'd think that would be'interview' #1.
At least a Skype video should be quick and easy once Assange arranged his lawyers presence for it.
No questions to ask or just the kind only asked/answered in the kangaroo 'Special Federal 'State Secrets Central' Court where your expected shot at justice is dead on arrival under the WW1 era espionage law?
I think the latter.

However Russophobe deluxe Rep.Schiff was open to questioning Julian Assange but only in person here in the US and with Julian in cuffs.

@aliasalias
Pardon Assange of all charges since no interview was needed or done.
Disolve all 17 intelligence agencies that charged there was collusion with Russia.
Cancel all sanctions against Russia and restore friendly relations as promised in his campaign.
Here is his chance to really drain the swamp and have the backing of most of the American people.
And MAGA again.
Hell, disolving the CIA would get him a vote from me for the Nobel Peace Prize.

yet no interview with Julian Assange happens during this great 'investigation? Lawyers for Julian Assange offered an interview for Mueller (at the embassy) and considering that most of the 'collusion investigation' allegations involve Julian Assange and Wikileaks you'd think that would be'interview' #1.
At least a Skype video should be quick and easy once Assange arranged his lawyers presence for it.
No questions to ask or just the kind only asked/answered in the kangaroo 'Special Federal 'State Secrets Central' Court where your expected shot at justice is dead on arrival under the WW1 era espionage law?
I think the latter.

However Russophobe deluxe Rep.Schiff was open to questioning Julian Assange but only in person here in the US and with Julian in cuffs.

The concurrent investigation by the nation's leading experts in these matters has continued unabated using REAL evidence. It's all there.

Not to be missed if you ever want to hold a fact-based conversation about the Russia Hoax that was perpetuated upon this nation. Elizabeth Vos is a gifted fact-based investigative journalist, and produces nothing like the cray-cray delusions that Marcy spews over at Emptywheel (a perfect name for that blog). The silencing of Assange has been all about preventing him from testifying
and putting to lie the entire Mueller boondoggle.

In the last few weeks, we have witnessed two pillars of the Russiagate narrative continue to disintegrate and erode. First, we heard that a bipartisan inquiry by the Senate Intelligence Committee admitted that they have yet to find evidence indicating that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia in the run-up to the 2016 US Presidential election. Secondly, new light was shed on the process by which the DNC Emails published by WikiLeaks may have been sourced, thanks to two reports: one authored by former NSA Technical Director Bill Binney and former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, with the other work penned by Disobedient Media’s Adam Carter.

Of course, this does not entail that the establishment-backed media will stop promoting the neo-McCarthyist insanity that has held legacy press audiences captive for the last two and a half years.

No Evidence For Trump-Russia Collusion

A recent report from NBC related an admission from both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, indicating that they have discovered no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion to date. NBC’s report reads in part:

“The Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the 2016 election has uncovered no direct evidence of the Trump campaign conspiring with Russia, Democrats and Republicans on the committee told NBC News. But different parties’ investigators in the probe, which is winding down, disagree over the implications of a pattern of contacts between Trump associates and Russians.”

Let’s review that again: the only thing the Democrats and Republicans disagree on is the significance of an alleged “Pattern of contacts between Trump associates and Russians.”

Note: the “pattern” here does not specify that the “Russians” in question were associated in any sense with the Russian government. One should not have to stress the significance of differentiating between a nationality versus affiliation with the Kremlin. Meanwhile, the characterization of “Trump associates” is entirely vague.

To conclude from such sentiments that anyone who so much as has “contacts” with “Russians” (again, not the same thing as contacts with proxies or employees of the Russian state) must be working at the behest of Putin would represent an intense strain of xenophobia, if not outright racism....

One does not have to rely on the statements of the Senate Intelligence Committee to understand that no shred of evidence of Trump-Russia collusion has yet been shown to the public. Last month, The Nation’s Aaron Mate wrote:

“Not a single Trump official has been accused of colluding with the Russian government or even of committing any crimes during the 2016 campaign. As The New York Times recently noted, “no public evidence has emerged showing that [Trump’s] campaign conspired with Russia.”....

As this author opined last year: “Standing on the shoulders of this methodical evidence, it seems at this point that no amount of contrary evidence, exposure or implosion will ultimately kill the undead Russiagate monster. If that were possible, the Thing would have been put irrevocably into the ground over a year ago. Or six months ago. Or a few weeks ago.”

Russian Hacking Narrative Implodes

The Russian hacking aspect of the scandal was also severely discredited in recent days, in the wake of two new reports. One article was authored by Disobedient Media’s Adam Carter, with a separate piece published by Bill Binney and Larry Johnson. Binney is a former NSA Technical Director; Johnson an ex-CIA analyst. Both are active members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

The two articles discussed revelations arising from studies of the DNC Emails released by WikiLeaks in 2016. We remind our readers that, while Adam Carter, Disobedient Media, The Forensicator, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, Stephen McIntyre, and others have regularly reported regarding documents published by the Guccifer 2.0 persona, the latest pieces focus instead on the DNC Emails as published days before the DNC convention.

Though this writer will not attempt to present every aspect or technical detail contained in the articles, we will endeavor to make our readers aware of the essential points which Carter, Binney, and Johnson have raised.

Carter’s work suggests that the DNC Emails were originally accessed via a USB thumb drive or similar device, concluding: “The evidence strongly suggests that the first three batches of DNC emails were transferred via a USB storage device at some stage between acquisition and then subsequently being published by WikiLeaks.”As noted by Carter, such a scenario aligns with allegations made by former UK Ambassador Craig Murray, who claimed that he was the recipient of the files via an intermediary rather than the original source.

(Read more at the source)

The article by Binney and Johnson also discusses the relevance of indications that the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks were likely accessed via a storage device, rather than leaked. They state in part:

“An examination of the Wikileaks DNC files do not support the claim that the emails were obtained via spearphishing. Instead, the evidence clearly shows that the emails posted on the Wikileaks site were copied onto an electronic media, such as a CD-ROM or thumb-drive before they were posted at Wikileaks… We believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller faces major embarrassment if he decides to pursue the indictment he filed–which accuses 12 Russian GRU military personnel and an entity identified as, Guccifer 2.0, for the DNC hack—because the available forensic evidence indicates the emails were copied onto a storage device.”

Binney and Johnson conclude: “Taken together, these disparate data points combine to paint a picture that exonerates alleged Russian hackers and implicates persons within our law enforcement and IC taking part in a campaign of misinformation, deceit and incompetence. It is not a pretty picture.”

The Real Cost Of Russiagate

Though Russiagate may be summed up as a never-ending theatrical performance designed to hold attention rather than prove itself, that does not mean that the saga has had no tangible effects in the real world. Regardless of what one makes of the legitimacy of Russiagate or any one of its sub-narratives, we can all agree that it has wreaked havoc directly and indirectly on many fronts.

(Read more at the source)

When asked about the real-world implications of Russiagate thus far, Ray McGovern – who, as we remind our readers, is a former CIA analyst with decades of experience during the Cold War period – expressed deep concern, saying:

“I worry about what conclusions President Putin may draw from attempts to demonize him and to make Russia a pariah. Inflammatory rhetoric can be prelude to war. Worse still, the temperament and hubris of President Trump’s advisers are a far cry from the sage, sober advice Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson, for example, gave President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Shattered, at this point, is any residual hope Putin may have harbored that Trump would be able to improve ties with Russia. Trump is not his own man. Putin, thus, must prepare for the worst. This is the most serious damage from the Russia-gate narrative so far.”

In terms of the larger political picture, Russiagate has been endlessly hyped to deflect from public outrage that rightfully erupted in response to overt election interference by the Democratic Party in the 2016 primary season. It has been used in an attempt to mask the failure of the Democrats and specifically Hillary Clinton as a Presidential candidate....

As long as the legacy press continues to use Russiagate to gaslight the public from focusing on ongoing domestic election interference, it remains imperative to point out that Russiagate, to date, has no basis whatsoever in fact. For that reason, Disobedient Media will continue to report on the subject as it develops.

For my part, this investigation has led to dreadful discoveries concerning the involvement of CrowdStrike and Imran Awan in the real crime that will never come to light in our lifetimes.

yet no interview with Julian Assange happens during this great 'investigation? Lawyers for Julian Assange offered an interview for Mueller (at the embassy) and considering that most of the 'collusion investigation' allegations involve Julian Assange and Wikileaks you'd think that would be'interview' #1.
At least a Skype video should be quick and easy once Assange arranged his lawyers presence for it.
No questions to ask or just the kind only asked/answered in the kangaroo 'Special Federal 'State Secrets Central' Court where your expected shot at justice is dead on arrival under the WW1 era espionage law?
I think the latter.

However Russophobe deluxe Rep.Schiff was open to questioning Julian Assange but only in person here in the US and with Julian in cuffs.

"House Democrats have launched a probe into the Trump administration’s alleged attempt to transfer ‘sensitive’ US nuclear technologies to Saudi Arabia. The company implicated has already found a couple of usual suspects to blame.

White House staff members are reportedly fast-tracking “the transfer of highly sensitive US nuclear technology” to Saudi Arabia without the necessary congressional review, possibly running afoul of the Atomic Energy Act and potentially allowing the Saudis to build a nuclear bomb, according to an interim staff report by Committee on Oversight and Reform chair Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), which cites “multiple whistleblowers” as the source of the information. The Committee has opened an investigation into the allegations.

The report implicates the President’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and Trump fundraiser Thomas Barrack in a project backed by “strong private commercial interests” to develop “dozens of nuclear power plants” through a private US company called IP3 International under the so-called “Trump Middle East Marshall Plan.”

"Unnamed “experts” cited in the report fear the Saudis might seek to build a nuclear bomb using the technology, further destabilizing the Middle East – especially if the transfer proceeds in secret, without congressional approval, which would require the transfer agreement to meet specific non-proliferation requirements. Saudi Arabia, the whistleblowers claim, is “refusing to agree to prohibitions on enriching uranium and processing plutonium similar to those agreed to by other countries in the region.”

oh wait, and oh, double rats: the piece at Rt.com was titled: 'Trump accused of seeking to sell US nuclear ‘secrets’ to Saudis… so why is this Russia’s fault?'20 Feb, 2019 just foolin' around, mimi. ; )

mentioning Russia, Russians, Rooskies or other weasel words relating to Russia for six days, I send some bucks to JtC.

The Russian under my bed gets restless and kicks my behind from under the mattress and I can't take it any longer.

@wendy davis
and then continue to write for ever and ever whatever to whomever whenever. Let's call 'em 'TOP-istas'.

/ducking,

PS: I still need more coffee or simply shut down. I am really tired of life these days.
So, enjoy the fun with the TOP-istas, but I have now to crawl under my bed and have some 'quality time' with my favorite Russian under my bed.

PS1: I am just fooling around as well.

PS3: Keep on going on. I understand only half of what you write, but that is plenty enough and entertaining.

"House Democrats have launched a probe into the Trump administration’s alleged attempt to transfer ‘sensitive’ US nuclear technologies to Saudi Arabia. The company implicated has already found a couple of usual suspects to blame.

White House staff members are reportedly fast-tracking “the transfer of highly sensitive US nuclear technology” to Saudi Arabia without the necessary congressional review, possibly running afoul of the Atomic Energy Act and potentially allowing the Saudis to build a nuclear bomb, according to an interim staff report by Committee on Oversight and Reform chair Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), which cites “multiple whistleblowers” as the source of the information. The Committee has opened an investigation into the allegations.

The report implicates the President’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and Trump fundraiser Thomas Barrack in a project backed by “strong private commercial interests” to develop “dozens of nuclear power plants” through a private US company called IP3 International under the so-called “Trump Middle East Marshall Plan.”

"Unnamed “experts” cited in the report fear the Saudis might seek to build a nuclear bomb using the technology, further destabilizing the Middle East – especially if the transfer proceeds in secret, without congressional approval, which would require the transfer agreement to meet specific non-proliferation requirements. Saudi Arabia, the whistleblowers claim, is “refusing to agree to prohibitions on enriching uranium and processing plutonium similar to those agreed to by other countries in the region.”

oh wait, and oh, double rats: the piece at Rt.com was titled: 'Trump accused of seeking to sell US nuclear ‘secrets’ to Saudis… so why is this Russia’s fault?'20 Feb, 2019 just foolin' around, mimi. ; )

"House Democrats have launched a probe into the Trump administration’s alleged attempt to transfer ‘sensitive’ US nuclear technologies to Saudi Arabia. The company implicated has already found a couple of usual suspects to blame.

White House staff members are reportedly fast-tracking “the transfer of highly sensitive US nuclear technology” to Saudi Arabia without the necessary congressional review, possibly running afoul of the Atomic Energy Act and potentially allowing the Saudis to build a nuclear bomb, according to an interim staff report by Committee on Oversight and Reform chair Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), which cites “multiple whistleblowers” as the source of the information. The Committee has opened an investigation into the allegations.

The report implicates the President’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and Trump fundraiser Thomas Barrack in a project backed by “strong private commercial interests” to develop “dozens of nuclear power plants” through a private US company called IP3 International under the so-called “Trump Middle East Marshall Plan.”

"Unnamed “experts” cited in the report fear the Saudis might seek to build a nuclear bomb using the technology, further destabilizing the Middle East – especially if the transfer proceeds in secret, without congressional approval, which would require the transfer agreement to meet specific non-proliferation requirements. Saudi Arabia, the whistleblowers claim, is “refusing to agree to prohibitions on enriching uranium and processing plutonium similar to those agreed to by other countries in the region.”

oh wait, and oh, double rats: the piece at Rt.com was titled: 'Trump accused of seeking to sell US nuclear ‘secrets’ to Saudis… so why is this Russia’s fault?'20 Feb, 2019 just foolin' around, mimi. ; )

meant to be pointing to the weasel words in that report, and how damning it sounds nonetheless. i could give a fig about TOP, myownself, but i realize many of you are still inversely wedded to the place as former denizens. iirc, i only read anything there a few times when someone at sites i did write for gave a link to the GOS.

but see how i mooked up my post to you? we'd been without wifi for most of the day, so i was in a hurry to catch up, and had even included the word russia by mistake. the surprise was meant to be providing the tile in the end. the result being: i blew Teh Funny! bah!

#5.2
good guy, hope his investigation goes places and gets results. I have a special place in my heart for courageous whistleblowers. I hope they will be known soon, so that we can honor them.

Thanks, favorite sister. It takes a while but eventually I read the stuff and at least get the most important lines correctly.

@wendy davis
to your ears. Let me give it a rest. The Russians are 'ante portas' so to speak where I live and I haven't felt threatened by them since reunification. It simply isn't my thing. And whatever happens at TOP, happens. I am not interested at all. It's irrelevant to my life.

So, sister, let us be best friends and sisters and start all over. I will never be able to read as much as you all do. I also don't want to read that much. I hope you can understand and foregive it. It is not meant as an offense or disrespect of your tremendous work here.

meant to be pointing to the weasel words in that report, and how damning it sounds nonetheless. i could give a fig about TOP, myownself, but i realize many of you are still inversely wedded to the place as former denizens. iirc, i only read anything there a few times when someone at sites i did write for gave a link to the GOS.

but see how i mooked up my post to you? we'd been without wifi for most of the day, so i was in a hurry to catch up, and had even included the word russia by mistake. the surprise was meant to be providing the tile in the end. the result being: i blew Teh Funny! bah!

it was all my error, mimi, just being in too much of a hurry again. no phones, no wifi, a mammoth blizzard with 4 and 5- foot drifts, so i got way behind, even adding to my current diary. (luckily i dinnae have to shovel or plow us out w/ our 1947 ford 8-N), but poor mr. wd did. ; ) so i blew the Jest, and hadn't made it clear why all those D-anons might end up being part of Mueller-gate, although i did see one alleged source named earlier today (it skittered out of my decrepit grey matter straightaway, naturally). but watch for that to blow up as big as it can be. as with: the russian GRU hacked the emails, gave them to assange, yada, yada...and yada.

of course peace w/ you always, ma soeur.

#5.2.2.1
to your ears. Let me give it a rest. The Russians are 'ante portas' so to speak where I live and I haven't felt threatened by them since reunification. It simply isn't my thing. And whatever happens at TOP, happens. I am not interested at all. It's irrelevant to my life.

So, sister, let us be best friends and sisters and start all over. I will never be able to read as much as you all do. I also don't want to read that much. I hope you can understand and foregive it. It is not meant as an offense or disrespect of your tremendous work here.

"House Democrats have launched a probe into the Trump administration’s alleged attempt to transfer ‘sensitive’ US nuclear technologies to Saudi Arabia. The company implicated has already found a couple of usual suspects to blame.

White House staff members are reportedly fast-tracking “the transfer of highly sensitive US nuclear technology” to Saudi Arabia without the necessary congressional review, possibly running afoul of the Atomic Energy Act and potentially allowing the Saudis to build a nuclear bomb, according to an interim staff report by Committee on Oversight and Reform chair Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), which cites “multiple whistleblowers” as the source of the information. The Committee has opened an investigation into the allegations.

The report implicates the President’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, and Trump fundraiser Thomas Barrack in a project backed by “strong private commercial interests” to develop “dozens of nuclear power plants” through a private US company called IP3 International under the so-called “Trump Middle East Marshall Plan.”

"Unnamed “experts” cited in the report fear the Saudis might seek to build a nuclear bomb using the technology, further destabilizing the Middle East – especially if the transfer proceeds in secret, without congressional approval, which would require the transfer agreement to meet specific non-proliferation requirements. Saudi Arabia, the whistleblowers claim, is “refusing to agree to prohibitions on enriching uranium and processing plutonium similar to those agreed to by other countries in the region.”

oh wait, and oh, double rats: the piece at Rt.com was titled: 'Trump accused of seeking to sell US nuclear ‘secrets’ to Saudis… so why is this Russia’s fault?'20 Feb, 2019 just foolin' around, mimi. ; )

in the W, Reagan, Nixon mold. In other words slimy as hell, guilty of an 18th century novel's length list of crimes, but nothing that the House corruptocrats aren't themselves guilty of. Ultimately they will try to impeach him if - and only if - they think that they can gain some personal advantage from it. (President Pence, President Pelosi, President For Life Hillary the First, a 2020 wave election, a proschemata for WW3, your guess is as good as mine what their true goals are, though I think that referring to Thucydides is more appropriate than just the Latin) In any event this is how a corrupt royal court would act, not a legitimate democracy.

@doh1304@doh1304@doh1304
the phony "Emergency" is an impeachable offense once Trump spends one dollar of mis-appropriated funds on his wall in defiance of the Constitution. The Emergency powers Act only authorized those re-appropriations necessary for an immediate response to a natural disaster, invasion, or insurrection. Forget "emoluments" from his business. That was a reach. If I, as a low-level employee had authorized one dollar of mis-appropriated funds, I would have been cashiered and probably tried. Certainly tried for a substantial amount of money. Is five billion substantial?

in the W, Reagan, Nixon mold. In other words slimy as hell, guilty of an 18th century novel's length list of crimes, but nothing that the House corruptocrats aren't themselves guilty of. Ultimately they will try to impeach him if - and only if - they think that they can gain some personal advantage from it. (President Pence, President Pelosi, President For Life Hillary the First, a 2020 wave election, a proschemata for WW3, your guess is as good as mine what their true goals are, though I think that referring to Thucydides is more appropriate than just the Latin) In any event this is how a corrupt royal court would act, not a legitimate democracy.

have to investigate a President who is not from the same party as the House and/or the Senate, then declare victory when the investigators find crimes unrelated to the purpose of the investigation and/or process crimes that result from the investigation itself. We do not, however, bring down said President, only those unfortunate enough to have dealt with him before he became President and those loyal enough to try to cover up for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton (perjury--internationally televised perjury; impeached by a Republican House and falsely acquitted by a Democratic Senate, including of perjury that millions had witnessed, thanks to internationally broadcast questioning under oath. FFS, the ARKANSAS Supreme Court disbarred him and many of the occupants of that bench were probably his buddies, if not his appointees. But, only in America--his popularity went up and that of the Republicans who had impeached him down. Which is very likely why Democrats only yapped about impeachment of Bush and Trump.

Hell, even racist Democrat Johnson did not get convicted by a Republican majority Senate and he, too, was clearly guilty of at least one of the charges. Then again, IIRC, the impeachment occurred during the last year of his term they had enough votes to override whatever he vetoed.

@HenryAWallace
I was taught in school that Johnson's acquittal established that the President could indeed fire anyone in the Executive Branch even if Senate approval was needed to appoint him in the first place.

As for Clinton, perjury is indeed a felony and the Arkansas Supreme Court was right to disbar him for it. But it is not a High (i.e. governmental) crime. At least some Constitutional scholars said that was the meaning of High Crime and Misdemeanor. Otherwis3e, a President could be impeached for a misdemeanor parking violation or smoking in a restaurant.

have to investigate a President who is not from the same party as the House and/or the Senate, then declare victory when the investigators find crimes unrelated to the purpose of the investigation and/or process crimes that result from the investigation itself. We do not, however, bring down said President, only those unfortunate enough to have dealt with him before he became President and those loyal enough to try to cover up for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton (perjury--internationally televised perjury; impeached by a Republican House and falsely acquitted by a Democratic Senate, including of perjury that millions had witnessed, thanks to internationally broadcast questioning under oath. FFS, the ARKANSAS Supreme Court disbarred him and many of the occupants of that bench were probably his buddies, if not his appointees. But, only in America--his popularity went up and that of the Republicans who had impeached him down. Which is very likely why Democrats only yapped about impeachment of Bush and Trump.

Hell, even racist Democrat Johnson did not get convicted by a Republican majority Senate and he, too, was clearly guilty of at least one of the charges. Then again, IIRC, the impeachment occurred during the last year of his term they had enough votes to override whatever he vetoed.

Clintons emails vs. Trumps Russia ties. Nothing winds up the establishment dems like reliving 2016. It's revenge. It's Hillarys Great White Whale. Same for Bernie making HER lose. They just can't get over how it has to be somebody else's fault she lost. They won't go after Trump on the real crimes because those crimes are something the dems want in their arsenal for the future.

Russiagate has evolved in 2-3 years where it has reached a semi-mystical level. It is pretty easy to draw comparisons between the Christian Satan and his minions with Russian Putin with his minions. They whisper shit in your ears and off you go committing sinful acts like not buying GMO foods or not vaccinating children.

It seems what cults do is evolve and change when reality strikes to continue their ways. "No direct evidence of collusion" evolves to circumstantial evidence is enough to prove collusion. And in some cases, the end of cult involves a very violent ending.

... Trump colluding with Russia in regards to the election will probably not appear.
Did his campaign staff violate campaign laws in meeting with foreign nationals? Probably. They are business people used to meeting with foreign nationals and have no idea what laws govern campaigns.
Is Trump a crook? Almost certainly. I wouldn't be surprised if he's committed white collar crimes every day of his adult life. Tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, questionable payoffs, etc. Will any of that appear in the report? No idea.
What about impeachable offences? Trump fired Comey, we have Trump's public statements and Comey's sworn testimony before Congress. They don't need anything else, they could have impeached him a year ago if they wanted to.
Impeachment isn't a criminal trial, it's a human resources action. "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" means exactly what the House and Senate decide they mean, and there is no appeal. It isn't a legal proceeding, it's political theater.
If they are going to remove Trump from office (requiring 20 ish Republican Senators to agree to it, spin me a scenario where that happens) they will want to do it as soon as possible. If they are going to run investigations and beat their chests about how horrible he is but never do anything about it, they will want to drag it out until after he is nominated at the convention.
Which makes me think that this report will be a big nothing burger. Anything substantive regarding Trump himself has been forwarded to the New York state prosecutors and might turn into something, eventually.
That doesn't mean that more Trump associates will be charged, or maybe Mueller has already done as much of that as he is going to do.
Of course, we still haven't heard from Weisselberg. He got his immunity deal six months ago and we haven't heard a peep. It will be interesting to see if any of that is in the report.

Did his campaign staff violate campaign laws in meeting with foreign nationals? Probably.

No. Meeting with foreign nationals is their job during transition. No criminal complaint was made over that, which was completely legal. At least, so say former administrations and ambassadors about Presidential transitions they participated in. This included constant contact with Russia.

... Trump colluding with Russia in regards to the election will probably not appear.
Did his campaign staff violate campaign laws in meeting with foreign nationals? Probably. They are business people used to meeting with foreign nationals and have no idea what laws govern campaigns.
Is Trump a crook? Almost certainly. I wouldn't be surprised if he's committed white collar crimes every day of his adult life. Tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, questionable payoffs, etc. Will any of that appear in the report? No idea.
What about impeachable offences? Trump fired Comey, we have Trump's public statements and Comey's sworn testimony before Congress. They don't need anything else, they could have impeached him a year ago if they wanted to.
Impeachment isn't a criminal trial, it's a human resources action. "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" means exactly what the House and Senate decide they mean, and there is no appeal. It isn't a legal proceeding, it's political theater.
If they are going to remove Trump from office (requiring 20 ish Republican Senators to agree to it, spin me a scenario where that happens) they will want to do it as soon as possible. If they are going to run investigations and beat their chests about how horrible he is but never do anything about it, they will want to drag it out until after he is nominated at the convention.
Which makes me think that this report will be a big nothing burger. Anything substantive regarding Trump himself has been forwarded to the New York state prosecutors and might turn into something, eventually.
That doesn't mean that more Trump associates will be charged, or maybe Mueller has already done as much of that as he is going to do.
Of course, we still haven't heard from Weisselberg. He got his immunity deal six months ago and we haven't heard a peep. It will be interesting to see if any of that is in the report.